Dear Parents, Time really flies when you’re having fun! The month of November has been super busy and now the end of term 1 is right around the corner… During this exciting month the children were given many opportunities to experience various fun celebrations. Do check out the awesome photos of these activities which your child’s class teacher has added to this Newsletter. The dentist also came in for a visit! In addition to checking the teeth of the children above 2 years of age, she reinforced the importance of oral hygiene & healthy eating through a fun activity with toys & puppets. With this in mind, I would like to kindly request parents to avoid giving your child sweets like lollipops, candies and chocolates, especially in the mornings. To help children develop healthy eating habits in the Early Years and ensure healthy teeth & gums, these treats should not be given on a regular basis. Cutting fruits into fun shapes with cookie cutters or giving them dried fruits, raisins, dates, etc. would be a much better and healthier option. November is also that exciting month in which the children start preparing a special dance or activity to share with their families at the end of our first term. It has been amazing to walk into different classrooms and take a peek at what they are preparing for you! DO make time to join us on your child’s special festive or concert day! Kindly check the calendar on this page for the date. Looking forward to another fun-filled month! Carol Oliveira Principal at TIN DSO

Tuesday 4th Dec: Happy Hippos’ Family Festive Day

Wednesday 5th Dec: Delightful Dolphins’ Family Festive Day

Thursday 6th Dec: Playful Pandas’ Family Festive Day

Saturday 8th Dec – Parent Teacher Meetings

Sunday 9th Dec: Caring Caterpillars’ Family Festive Day

Monday 10th Dec: Terrific Tigers’ Winter Concert

Tuesday 11th Dec: Sensible Snakes’ Winter Concert

Wednesday 12th Dec: Brilliant Bears’ Winter Concert

Thursday 13th Dec: Last Day of Term 1! Please Note: On the last day we will have our end of term party, as well as a special music session with Kiddie Gym and a visit from Santa Claus! More details will soon follow.

WINTER CAMP: 16th Dec – 3rd January (**1st Jan is a Public Holiday. Nursery will be closed).

How to Help your Child Become More Independent

We also had a workshop this month! It focused on the importance of helping children to become more independent. Here are a few tips on how to support your little ones in this area on a daily basis:

Give them time!: We’re often in a rush & end up not giving our child enough time to complete tasks. Children will certainly do things slower than us, but be patient & allow them to follow their own pace. This is a must in order for them to improve their ability to do things independently!

Allow them to make choices: This will empower them & teach them to be more self-reliant. Of course there are certain things which they MUST do, like taking a shower. Nonetheless, even in this case you can still give them a choice! For example: “Would you like to take a shower now or in 5 minutes?”

Forget Perfection!: It is very unlikely that children will do things perfectly when they are learning. The food might be all over the place when they feed themselves, shoes might be put on the wrong feet, they might spill juice when pouring it, etc. Getting upset over these mistakes will only discourage children from trying. Instead, get into a habit of praising their efforts & guiding them on how to fix the problem or do better next time.

Trust & Encourage: Allowing your child to do things independently & encouraging them to try new things on their own shows them that we trust & believe in them. And isn’t it great when we feel people trust us to do things?! Your child feels the same way! Your encouragement, trust and support will boost their self-confidence and enhance their self-esteem as you will be helping them believe even more in their ability to do things.

Practice Makes Perfect!: Last but not least, give your child PLENTY of opportunities to practice the new skills & activities which they are learning to do by themselves. Doing something only once is not enough! Consistency is certainly the key to becoming more independent and improving our overall ability to perform certain tasks.

(By Carol Oliveira)

29.11.18

Playful Pandas – Nursery Programme

November 2018 – Monthly Newsletter

Dear Parents, Our topic this month was ‘My DUBAI’ and we have learned also about our surrounding environment. Our Playful Pandas had lots of fun learning about Dubai’s desert environment, we have learned about desert animals such as the camel and we have learned about the sand and explored it’s texture in our sensory trays. Additionally we have learned about the UAE Flag throughout the months and it’s different colours, we had various flag crafts to make sure our little ones understood the concept. We have used the Flag Colours in messy play, in sensory trays, and in patterning math activities. Moreover we have discussed about the different monuments of the UAE such as Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab and the 7 emirates. We have also read lovely stories related to this topic. Finally our Pandas had their best time at Russo’s Pizzeria, they have enjoyed making their own pizzas and we were very proud of their creations! Looking forward to starting a new month with a new exciting topic for our Panda Class.

Best wishes, Ms. Shahy, Ms. Ailen and Ms. Patricia (Playful Pandas Team)

Home Connections

To help our children understand more about this month’s topic, on weekends or free times you can visit the famous monuments and places in Dubai with your little ones! For example, you can go visit Burj Khalifa and then go home and do an activity related to what they have seen, then they can try to build Burj Khalifa using Lego blocks or even tissue boxes. Please feel free to ask for more ideas .

Here are a few photos of what we have been up to this month...